At the time when Berlin was declared “Jjudenfrei” (officially “free of Jews”) in 1943, there were about 7,000 Jews still secretly residing in the capital of the Third Reich. They survived by hiding in attics, basements, warehouses, and sometimes disguised in plain view walking among their fellow Germans. Using an assemblage of personal interviews, fictionalized re-enactments, and archival footage, The Invisibles is a gripping documentary/narrative hybrid about the inspiring resourcefulness, resiliency, and courage shown by teenagers and young adults living in dire conditions with an uncertain future.
The inventive structure of the film allows us to hear the stories of four survivors, as compellingly told in their own words, and then to see the action dramatically depicted by a talented cast. Hanni Lévy, a homeless woman who goes to the movie theater every day for safety and escapism, Eugen Friede is a 16-year-old who is sheltered by communist families and joins the resistance, Ruth Arndt finds work as a maid and nanny for a sympathetic Nazi colonel, and brilliant art student Cioma Schönhaus (Max Mauff from Bridge of Spies, in a starmaking turn here), learns to expertly forge passports for other Jews. Cinematographer Jörg Widmer (Pina) beautifully captures the look of 1940s Berlin and brings the dramatizations to vibrant life.
Q&A after the film with Lawrence Gumpel, son of Ruth Arndt